Page 35 - Power Electronics News - December 2020

Semiconductors Semiconductors

Dieselgate, the ban of diesel cars in some regions battery. And to increase the voltage level of the

and cities, strong battery cost reductions, and electrical circuitry, Toyota’s Prius uses a 600-V
incentives for zero-emission vehicles in countries boost converter.
like China. In the meantime, many governments
have strengthened their carbon dioxide reduction These two high-voltage platforms can be a great
targets. This acceleration has surprised most of opportunity for 1,200-volt SiC adoption in main
the traditional players who weren’t ready. inverters, and significantly accelerate the growth
of SiC in the EV/HEV market.

PEN: Will electric vehicles (EVs) take
over the roads? PEN: How about GaN? What’s driving its

Dogmus: We have observed a strong enrollment adoption?
from OEMs with more than $300 billion of invest- Dogmus: A new technology trend is emerging in
ments over the last years. At Yole, we forecast the consumer smartphone market: fast charging. Figure 2: SiC and GaN power market evolution.
an impressive market growth with more than 25 Over the years, the battery capacity and size have PEN: What’s the price point when PEN: What’s the market forecast for the
million EVs by 2024. increased with the arrival of new functionalities compared to silicon devices? SiC and GaN?
such as high-quality games, some additional Dogmus: The high-power GaN-based fast Dogmus: At Yole, we predict that SiC will ex-

sensors and cameras, high 5G data-transfer rates chargers are very similar, ad they are even cheap- ceed $2.6 billion by 2025. The automotive market
PEN: What’s the impact on the WBG and bigger screens in smartphones. Larger-ca- er than silicon-based chargers. We first saw the will be the foremost driver with main inverters

semiconductor adoption, especially on pacity batteries, however, imply a long charging introduction of the aftermarket chargers, and in EV/HEV in the next five years. SiC will also be
SiC, in the next few years? time if you use a traditional 5-W charger (>1.5 in the years 2019 and 2020, leading OEMs such a key element for the EV charging infrastructure
Dogmus: SiC is adapted for high power densi- hour). It was the right moment for OEMs to do as Samsung, Huawei and Xiaomi have started and for energy applications such as photovolta-
ty and high efficiency applications such as the something and start deploying fast charging. The their own accessory GaN-based fast chargers. In ics.
main inverter. Today, powertrain applications are idea has been to push the limits further with parallel, Chinese players Oppo and Realme have
indeed significantly driving the SiC market. higher power to further decrease the charging time. integrated these GaN chargers in the smartphone The GaN market is significantly boosted by
box, selling them together with the phone. We consumer fast chargers. It is expected to reach

In EVs, one of the most important parameters is can really expect leading OEMs such as Samsung, about $700 million by 2025. Starting in 2024 and
the driving range, and we have identified three Apple, and Huawei to integrate GaN-based fast 2025, we can then expect higher volumes of GaN
main approaches where SiC can help extend the chargers in the smartphone box in the future. in EV/HEV applications.
driving range. Most contemporary electric cars And when there is full market acceptance for
operate with 400-V batteries, and the first ap- these GaN-based chargers , we can expect fur-
proach brings us back to Tesla’s decision in 2018 ther price reduction.
to replace silicon IGBT with SiC MOSFETs in the

Model 3 main inverter. In that case, SiC has ena-
bled higher efficiency and a smaller form factor For More Information
at the inverter level.

▶ Industrialists collaborate to meet GaN and SiC Market demands
The second and third approaches are more
related to the new trend towards large-capac- ▶ Renewable energy and its impact on the future of GaN and SiC power
ity batteries to increase the driving range. To
date, only Porsche’s Taycan can be considered semiconductor market
as a commercially available vehicle with 800-V Figure 1: GaN-based fast chargers.

34 DECEMBER 2020 | www.powerelectronicsnews.com DECEMBER 2020 | www.powerelectronicsnews.com 35